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A partner at CMS has been stripped of his management position after fondling a colleague in a public bar.

The partner – let’s call him John* – was at a firm event last summer. A number of CMS employees spotted him at the bar, several sheets to the wind, sitting next to another partner. As one of them says, he had “his hands down the pants of the other partner, literally”.

There is no suggestion of any lack of consent nor any abuse of power – it was just two partners sharing an intimate moment. In a public bar in front of hundreds of people and colleagues.

Some of the employees complained to management, an investigation was launched and the partner was removed from his position. Insiders also say that he has been warned not to attend social events in the future and to lay off the booze.

A spokesman for CMS said "The firm takes inappropriate behaviour very seriously. This relates to an event which took place a year ago, which was thoroughly investigated with appropriate action taken”.

*Not his real name. Actually maybe his real name, but maybe not. On the balance of probabilities, not his real name. If you think you know him and his name is John, then definitely not his real name. If you think you know him and his name is Steve then actually its John, not Steve but this is not him and that's not his real name anyway. If you are him and your name is John then get a f*cking room next time thank you.

I suspect they were probably complaining as it is very unprofessional and bad for business. Don't think it is a matter for the SRA, but I'd say it is behaviour that falls well below the minimum standard to be expected.